MTS versus Dual Recto

[tonymustang302]

Quite honestly, i think the ultra boosted sounds the closest to a mesa. At least thats who i have mine eq'ed.

 

[Mesa Triple]

uh-oh...i just played it..... bad news for randall...

Anyone that plays METAL will agree. That is why they are used by so many metal bands.

 

[JKD]

Quite honestly, i think the ultra boosted sounds the closest to a mesa. At least thats who i have mine eq'ed.

dunno about close to a mesa but a boosted Ultra is a freakin' evil sound (.but drifting towards solid state in attack and sound IMO) :twisted:

FWIW, after discovering a boost...I always ran my 2ch Dual Recto(s) with a boost out front...produced an equally evil but very tight sound for low volume playing.

 

[enuenu]

JKD, it seems you have mirrored what a few people have said to me. An RM100 will go nasty, but it won't quite have the creamy overdriven tones of a Recto. "Close to a Recto" seems to crop up a bit too. Thanks for all the input.

 

[tonymustang302]

i know i dont have the mesa eq'd "right" so im waiting for my buddy to come over and do his magic. But I will say that i have the Ultra module sounding exactly like the signature mesa tone that ive been looking for. Ican't even get the mesa to sound this mean IMHO.

If you listen to As I Lay Dyings new cd, their pinch harmonics sound very fake/weak/solid statey. They used the ultra XL boosted. My dual rec makes pinch harmonics sound sooo sick...I love it. Thats my only complaint with Randall stuff.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

An RM100 will go nasty, but it won't quite have the creamy overdriven tones of a Recto.

Strange, I never thought of a Rectifier as creamy overdrive
Yes, the Randall gets nasty

 

[maximus1]

the fakeness you re hearing is the ultra xl with too much gain , being overcompressed and when you throw a boost on top of that , yeah you might as well be playing a line 6 flextone on the insane channel

 

[enuenu]

Yeah thanks maximus1, I am hearing fakeness in some clips. Then I will hear one that sounds bloody awesome and that keeps me interested in the RM100. It is the availability of many tones that keeps the RM100 in the race for me. I listened to some clips of the Brahma module and found myself thinking how it made a real nice change from the classic doom chord I am after. As for my (bad) use of adjectives when describing tone, describing the tone I am after is a bit like grabbing a slippery fish for a newb like me. I know I'm hungry but can't quite get it into the boat!

 

[tonymustang302]

I will tell you right now, ive never had a better sounding amp when i palm mute at gig volumes. It is WAY more brutal and fuller sounding then my recto.

I have my randall eq'd PERFECTLY and its the sickest sounding think ive ever heard. When i palm mute it doesnt sound thin and non gainy like every other fuckin amp ive tried. The ultra and randall sound just amazing and full. I am VERY VERY picky about amps sounding shitty when you palm mute at gig volumes, and Randall has put the biggest smile on my face.

Until i find a solution to combine both the recto and randall amps, the randall will stay on top of my half-stack.

Enuenu, are you in chicago?

 

[enuenu]

Thanks tonymustang302. I'm just a little further afield than Chicago. I'm in Australia. Seems that while you are loving your RM100, your Recto still holds a special place. Must be something there that the RM100 isn't quite doing for you. Either way both amps are awesome and like I think I said somewhere, a bit like trying to choose between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini. The easy biasing of the RM100 is also attractive when I want to switch valves.
One more thing, it looks like I might be able to get hold of a used Recto 4 x 12 cab. Do the outputs of the RM100 match up with the Recto cab's impedence requirements? I'm not all that familiar with all the impedence stuff. The Recto cab is 4 Ohm stereo and 8 Ohm mono I think. This cab really kicks arse from what I have been told and listened to. My firiend's JCM900 went up another level when we put it through a 4 x 12 Recto cab rather than his usual 4 x 12 Marshall 1960A.

 

[JKD]

I had both a Recto Trad and Standard (Oversized) 4x12...great cabs..I preferred the Traditional because it was less bassy but still had balls...I paid something like $450..hard to beat for that price

RM100 can be set for 4/8/16 Ohm load..no worries there.

 

[enuenu]

Cheers, the prices you lucky bastards pay for gear makes me turn green. Try $2,000 for an empty RM100M and $420 per module, and that's from an online discounter. Add 20%+ when bought from a store. I went to my local store and they quoted $2,500 for the head and $500 per module. How about a Dual Recto head and cab for $6,200 reduced from $8,000? What about $2,300 for a 4 x 12 Recto cab? Whatever I get I will be importing from USA. Its a total rip off down here. (AUD$1 = USD$0.94)

The ability to easily switch the RM100 from 110V to 240V (I think I can) is one reason I am contemplating this amp, I can import it amd just plug it in.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

The easy biasing of the RM100 is also attractive when I want to switch valves.

Not only changing tubes, but I check and adjust the bias every time I move it, put everything right back to the correct levels- this is a super feature

 

[JKD]

Cheers, the prices you lucky bastards pay for gear makes me turn green. Try $2,000 for an empty RM100M and $420 per module, and that's from an online discounter. Add 20%+ when bought from a store. I went to my local store and they quoted $2,500 for the head and $500 per module. How about a Dual Recto head and cab for $6,200 reduced from $8,000? What about $2,300 for a 4 x 12 Recto cab? Whatever I get I will be importing from USA. Its a total rip off down here. (AUD$1 = USD$0.94)

The ability to easily switch the RM100 from 110V to 240V (I think I can) is one reason I am contemplating this amp, I can import it amd just plug it in.

If you decide to go modular and spot any great deals on modules only available stateside, be happy to pick 'em up for ya and send 'em your way for $10 (+shipping/insurance) over the module cost..assuming exchange rate/postage works out in your favour...which I think it will.

That offer applies to any Australian guys.

 

[Waste01]

I got my RM100C and modules from Funky Munky Music (via their eBay postings), and they shipped it all over for a reasonable price very quickly.

And yes, the prices of amps (and indeed anything related to music) in Australia is outrageous. For me, the world input voltage was one of the main selling points for the MTS series.

 

[enuenu]

JKD, thanks for the offer. Real nice of ya. Waste01, how have you found relibility of the RM100? I have been cruising through past threads in this forum and have come across a few people having weird technical difficulties including intermittent faults and LEDs not doing what they think they are supposed to do, among other things. This is one area that does make me lean towards a Recto as they have a reputation of being very reliable and well put together. Anyone else have any comments on this score?

 

[Waste01]

Haven't had a single problem in the 7 months that I've owned it .

I guess it comes down to this - do you NEED to have the exact same Rectifier sound you've heard on countless records? Or would you rather a sound thats similar, and people say "**** that sounds like a Recto, but different. What did you do to it?". Not to mention that the Cleans from the Blackface slay anything a Dual Rec can produce (although, apparently the Lone Star clean channel on the Road King II/Roadster is very nice).

It was an easy choice for me. The flexibility of MTS, adding in the extras like world input voltage and user biasing sold it.

 

[enuenu]

I'm hearing you. I don't have to have one specific tone I heard on recording XYZ. In fact having something a bit different is fine, but it has to have massive balls, be as evil as f*&#k and have no hint of solid state sanitation whatsoever.

EDIT - Can you plug a pair of headphones into the head, bypass your cab and strum away while the rest of the household hears nothing? I have little knowledge of tube heads so not sure if this is technically possible.

 

[metalmm785]

Most tube heads of that wattage don't really come with headphone jacks. Usually the smaller amps do because they are meant to be used for practice and so on.

 

[enuenu]

Hey Waste01, how did you deal with the import duty aspect? Apparently once you go over AUD$1000 for an item it gets complicated and attracts all sorts of duty and taxes.